Drivers and Reversibility of Abrupt Ocean State Transitions in the Amundsen Sea, Antarctica
Résumé
The West Antarctic Ice Sheet has lost mass over the last few decades and has thus contributed significantly to global sea level rise. Warming of the oceanic sub-surface seems to have caused an increase in melting under floating ice shelves, particularly in the Amundsen Sea (Jenkins et al., 2018). Depending on the bedrock slope direction (Pattyn et al., 2012; Schoof, 2007) and ice-shelf lateral buttressing (Gudmundsson, 2013), a sufficiently strong and persistent increase in basal melting can lead to a marine ice-sheet instability (MISI), resulting in a self-sustained retreat of the glacier's grounding line and to the acceleration of its flow (Favier et al., 2014; Joughin et al., 2014). Instabilities are triggered above a certain level of ocean warming (critical threshold or tipping point), with the possible existence of multiple thresholds. Thus, Rosier et al. (2021) estimated that Pine Island Glacier would undergo a MISI and major mass loss for an oceanic warming of +1.2°C relative to the present. Garbe et al. (2020) estimated that a tipping point of +2°C global warming relative to preindustrial could cause a MISI of the entire
Domaines
OcéanographieOrigine | Fichiers éditeurs autorisés sur une archive ouverte |
---|